U.S. Steel's black smoke raising health concerns in Windsor

Massive billowy clouds of black smoke spewed from the stacks of U.S. Steel Corp. on Zug Island have been leaving a sticky residue of soot in its path — often in Windsor — leading to people on both sides of the border questioning impacts on human health.

Clouds of black smoke as large as a football field are belched from the stacks of United States Steel Corporation’s plant on Zug Island at least several times a month, leaving a sticky residue of soot on buildings and vehicles in their wake.

The sprawling steel mill property that sits on a man-made island on the U.S. side of the Detroit River has been releasing the puffs of steam and dirty air for years — much of it drifting over to Windsor.

It is pollution Michigan regulators say currently falls within legal limits, but that critics want more closely monitored by government agencies.

What’s worrying is the frequency of the releases has increased in the last six months, say the owner of a truck ferry next door to U.S. Steel and two workers at the Windsor Salt mine operation across the Detroit River from the plant.

“This definitely reaches Windsor,” said Isaac Osmer, who has worked at Windsor Salt’s Prospect Avenue plant for the last eight years and recently took photos of the ominous black clouds being released by U.S. Steel as they drifted across the river.

“Whenever I watch it, this kind of heads toward our downtown,” Osmer said. “I’m sure it’s definitely doing something to the air we breathe. Everybody is always worried about the Hum, but to me the bigger issue is air we are breathing.”

The black plumes come from two blast furnaces at U.S. Steel which are equipped with bleeder valves designed to open when the pressure gets too high. This prevents damage to the furnaces but also sends particles into the air. A bleeder valve will open for a minute or two releasing a cloud.

There is a big boom and then “it blows all this smoke,” said Gregg Ward, operator of the Detroit-Windsor truck ferry located near the U.S. Steel plant in Detroit.

There can be a week or more without an occurrence, then it might happen several times in a day, he said. He described the particles in the smoke as “fine metallic pieces” that stick to things.

“It’s pretty disgusting,” said Ward, who has also snapped photos of the clouds pouring out of the stacks.

U.S. Steel has power-washed his ferry building, replaced signs and cleaned up the sticky soot.

“When you call them, they come right away to clean it up,” Ward said. “We have all talked about it around here and wondered how it affects our breathing.”

Windsor Salt employees can call a U.S. Steel representative to get vouchers worth up to $150 to have their cars detailed any time there is a questionable release from blast furnace stacks, Osmer said. “It’s like a very fine paint being splashed on your car.”

A plume of black smoke billows from U.S. Steel in this handout photo.Courtesy of Gregg Ward /
Windsor Star

Ryan White, who has been with Windsor Salt for three years, said he was “shocked” the first time he heard the boom at U.S. Steel and saw a black cloud drift toward this workplace.

“I couldn’t believe they could put that in the atmosphere,” he said “I thought, ‘This is insane that they can do that.’ We have been talking about it (at work) for a long time and how we can’t believe there are not some sort of regulations in place. The cloud of smoke, unless you see it in person, you can’t understand how big it is — it’s huge and pure black.”

Derek Coronado, of Windsor’s Citizens Environment Alliance, called the border-crossing smoke a subsidy the public gives U.S. Steel.

“Our diminished air quality is subsidizing their operations. It’s happening in Windsor and (on) their side,” he said.

It’s an issue that may soon be front and centre for more than the workers at industrial sites along Windsor’s riverfront. Not far from U.S. Steel is the site of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, which will include bike lanes and pedestrian walkways, as well as links to nearby parkland.

The black plumes from the U.S. Steel bleeder valves are filled with particulate matter — most harmful to those with respiratory problems and decreased heart function, said Nick Leonard, a staff attorney with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Centre in Detroit, which has battled U.S. Steel over alleged air quality violations on Zug Island for years.

Depending on when the bleeder valve release occurs during the steelmaking process — and from which stack — it could be coal-based, include limestone or other compounds, he said.

“It’s just black soot that has proven to be made up of any number of things,” Leonard said.

There are several types of air monitors on stacks, furnaces and locations around U.S. Steel, he said.

Most often, the company tracks the numbers and then reports them to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The state regulator forwards the information to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality inspectors generally only investigate if there are complaints, said Katie Koster, who works in the department’s air quality division.

According to state air pollution regulations, the opacity — or thickness — of the plume released by a bleeder valve can’t exceed an average of 27 per cent over six minutes. Because the releases usually take less than a minute, the average is below the limit, Koster said.

There is also a general nuisance regulation — Rule 901 — which prohibits “causing unreasonable interference with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property,” she said.

The EPA has set U.S. ambient air quality standards for how much particulate matter is considered safe for human health. The allowable limits are measured and averaged over 24 hours.

“Due to the very short duration of the bleeder events, it is unlikely that these openings would cause an exceedance of the (particulate matter standards) over a 24-hour average period,” Koster said. “The ambient air monitoring data supports this.”

The closest ambient air monitors to Zug Island that measure particulate matter for compliance are in Detroit near West Fort Street and West Lafayette Street, River Rouge and Dearborn, she said.

U.S. Steel is required to perform periodic stack testing to measure pollutants during normal production, for which it must remain within emission limits, Koster said. It also has to show that it is continuously monitoring to make sure its air pollution control equipment is operating properly.

There is no limit on the frequency with which bleeder valves can be opened, Koster said. That would require more stringent state or federal regulations.

“Opening of the valve can be planned and initiated by the operator as a normal part of the process during a furnace start up or shut down,” said U.S. Steel spokeswoman Erin DiPietro, who works out of the company’s head office in Pittsburgh.

“Opening can also be unplanned when the valve opens automatically to release pressure in the furnace, should it reach levels that could impact the safety of our employees or equipment.”

When the valve opens automatically on any blast furnace “we work to correct the situation as quickly as possible.” DiPietro said. “That process does take time due to the complex nature of blast furnace operations.”

DiPietro wouldn’t answer questions about the possible health impacts and what U.S. Steel is doing to decrease the releases, but noted the company does what it can to clean up the black soot.

“We do take responsibility and work with those in the community who believe they have been impacted,” she said.

After being asked about the plumes of smoke from Zug Island by the Star, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change reached out to the state regulator “so Michigan can follow up,” said spokesman Gary Wheeler.

A plume of black smoke billows from U.S. Steel in this handout photo.Courtesy of Isaac Osmer /
Windsor Star

The provincial ministry hasn’t received any public complaints about the release of smoke from the U.S. Steel blast furnaces and would work closely with Michigan if it did, he said.

Windsor area residents with concerns about air pollution from Michigan can notify the ministry’s Windsor office at 519-948-1464 or its Spills Action Centre at 1-800-268-6060.

Beyond the bleeder valve situation, U.S. Steel has been embroiled for years in a U.S. federal court dispute over allegations it exceeded limits set out in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Act, which regulates iron and steel manufacturing.

In a U.S. District Court complaint filed in 2012, the federal government and agencies from three states accused U.S. Steel of committing thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act between March 2004 and January 2009 on Zug Island and at facilities in Illinois and Indiana.

A proposed settlement negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice was tabled in December and stakeholders are now giving their feedback.

Under the settlement, U.S. Steel would pay $3,554,000 — less than one per cent of the maximum penalty under the Clean Air Act — without admitting any wrongdoing.

Leonard, the staff attorney with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Centre in Detroit, said that is hardly a deterrent.

There is “obviously a problem” with the bleeder valve situation, he said. “Sometimes (state and federal regulators) response is quicker than others.

“What we want is to see is U.S. Steel comply with the law…. How that happens is persistent monitoring, inspections and force improvements to their operations.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.